By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: October 01, 2019
During a recent Facebook event hosted by the International Women’s Conference, a leader of the World Forum for Ethics in Business and the president of Sri Sri University in India, Rajita Kulkarni Bagga, covers several topics and praises the upcoming plans for the conference that celebrates worldwide achievements of women. A carnival atmosphere in which to have fun, meet, and meditate, the International Women’s Conference will be held at the Bangalore Ashram in February of 2020. Here’s what Rajita had to say.
Watch the interview on video here:
Assets and liabilities on the balance sheet of life
The biggest asset we have in life is what we’ve contributed to someone else’s life. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says at the end of life we will ask two questions. How much knowledge have we gained, and how much love we have given to others?
Gaining this kind of spiritual wealth is not easy, but it’s certainly not impossible. I’ve found myself benefiting greatly from my spiritual practices. There’s a concept of sangha (the company you keep), and I’ve learned a lot from the Art of Living family around the world.
I like to offer students a metaphor of our collected spiritual practices, or toolbox, as a vehicle to help you get somewhere in life. As Gurudev says, “How you use the vehicle to deepen the experience is up to you.”
Resilience in building Sri Sri University
Life is short in a way, but it’s also long. You cannot be always on the upswing. To be able to stay the course, and to be able to bounce back, is crucial. Resilience is a primary trait of people who have been able to achieve a lot in life. Don’t be disappointed by setbacks and small failures.
To build a whole institution like Sri Sri University from scratch is a mammoth task, but it’s also an everyday job. Students come; students go. Everybody’s building the culture and fabric of the institution. Something that we expected to succeed didn’t work, but we pulled the curriculum through for one or two years, and eventually we had to scrap it. Rather than being discouraged, we said, “Let’s look at how we can re-craft it.”
I have learned this from Gurudev to never give up. He is unphased by any challenge that comes his way, any setbacks that he experiences. He just keeps moving ahead. He says, “We have to live the knowledge and be in the present moment.” Being resilient is being in this moment, and using the full potential of this moment.
What makes Sri Sri University different
Interviewer: The journey of the students of Sri Sri University must be fascinating and fantastic, and a great example of building resilience. Most of us were schooled in established institutions, and I think our education wasn’t complete.
Rajita: I’m seeing that students are part of building Sri Sri University. The students are part of the team: for example, architecture students are doing the drawings and designing the facilities, including buildings and amphitheatres themselves.
Here’s how Sri Sri University differs from conventional institutions:
Learning by doing: Students are building the university, an experience which is not something commonly experienced by students.
Spiritual practices: Students are lucky enough to learn the techniques of breathing, pranayama, and meditation, and are doing it every day. They get credits for that. If you come to our campus at 630 in the morning, you will see all 2000 students doing sun salutations, breathing, and meditating. This keeps them physically fit, mentally agile and strong, and emotionally solid.
Startup mentality: We are known as a university of startups, because almost 30 of our students have started their own startups in the past few years. This means they are innovative and that they can pull through challenging times.
Positivity: We might think we are not doing well when we look at people who are better off than us. When our students see that some people don’t even have two pairs of clothes to wear, they realize that they have a lot. Seva, or service, is a big part of our culture. All of our students are working on seva projects in surrounding villages. ‘Learn, lead, and serve’ is our motto. When you look towards people who have nothing, you realize how much you have and that can give you strength
The International Women’s Conference and other gatherings
Rajita’s other passion, the World Forum for Ethics in Business, holds world summits on ethics in sports, ethics in innovation, and on many other relevant topics.
Rajita: It’s up to us how much we can absorb at the summits and conferences. The chance to listen to someone who’s willing to share his or her life story is precious. We really learn a lot:
Amazing ideas: We can all learn and grow from fresh, new ideas.
Sows seeds of inspiration: These talks prepare us to take leaps of faith and trust in the universe.
Being with other people: We connect with others and form new positive, professional, and sometimes even personal relationships.
Humbles you: We learn what others are doing, and find inspiration to do even more with our lives and privileges.
Each International Women’s Conference has a different theme. You meet 1000 women from over 100 locations in the world. Topics of their talks include service projects, sponsoring the education of girls, social knowledge, social capital, and social intelligence. Listening to them makes me realize that the age of technological knowledge is over, and the age of social knowledge has begun.
A large delegation of women (75-80 women) came from Africa once for an IWC event. One woman told a story of how she went through a lot of abuse and trauma as a child. Her mother helped her run away. Now she’s a member of parliament. Somewhere, that seed of courage got sown in me, too. Stories like these put your life in perspective.
Circle of life: passion, compassion, dispassion
The circle of passion, compassion, and dispassion defines me. With my family background, we’ve been brought up to be committed to things. My husband is also a big inspiration, because I’ve seen how passionately he has worked. Citibank (where Rajita worked before Art of Living) is driven by passion, but Gurudev is the number one example.
I have learned to be dispassionate, meaning at the end of the day you have to be able to let go and relax. Gurudev says that ambition should be a shirt you wear, not your skin. You need to remove it. It’s only because of meditation that I can let go from time to time. We’re all dispassionate, in a way, because we all sleep at night.
Compassion comes naturally to both genders. It’s a natural human tendency that gets covered up due to stress. Spiritual practices help you uncover your natural compassion and remove the veils that keep it from being easy to access. Sometimes there’s so much going on that you’ve no choice but to be compassionate to others and to yourself, too.
An inspiring platform
Men are invited and encouraged to attend the International Women’s Conference. This event is all about about being part of an inspiring platform, and we are all in this together. I tell my students not to lose a single chance to listen and learn from someone. As women in leadership positions, we have come a long way. But there’s still a long way to go. We need to come together more, to learn from each other.
I would encourage everyone to not lose a single minute before acting to register and come. In a world that has become mediocre in one sense, it’s that spark of this beautiful, unique excellence that can change everything.
There are limited spots available, so act now!
Register for this amazing conference, and take advantage of an early bird offer. which ends on October 31st. Enjoy your adventure!
Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature.
